"Um…what was that all about?" she asks as we descend the stairs back to the lobby.
I don't answer but instead, I focus on the task ahead which is convincing everyone in the house that it was all just a big prank orchestrated by my dad.
"So?" Greg asks first as we come into view and scanning the faces of everyone in the room, I see they are also dying to know.
"He's alive and well, it was all a big prank to get me to bring home a wife."
"So my husband is alive?" My mother asks and suddenly, I have this sinister feeling that she knew about it all along.
"Did you know about it?" I ask, moving closer to her.
"About what?" She feigns ignorance but there is nobody on earth that knows my mother more than I do.
Her left eyebrow twitches whenever she is not saying the truth and it's twitching right now.
"I really don't know why you bother lying to me, I can always tell."
"Fine, fine…I was roped into it and I had no choice but to cooperate."
"No, you had a choice…you just decided to go with playing your own son," I spit, trying my best to control the anger burning in me.
"But it worked, you brought…her," she says in a low voice, pointing in Ava's direction.
"Why does everyone keep on thinking this. Ava's not going to be my wife!"
The whole room is so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, no one wanting to make a wrong move or say a thing that could piss me off the more, except for her.
"Can I leave now?" Her tiny voice permeates the silence and I turn to her slowly.
She's wringing her hands together and looking straight at me, the perfect combination of timid and bold…i've never seen such before.
"Yes, sure," I wave dismissively but she doesn't move.
"You were saying something about me owing you?" She asks after a few minutes of her standing in the same spot.
"Yes, I did say so but now is not the time. I'll reach out when it's time for you to pay me back."
Murmuring starts and a quick sweep with my eyes quiets everyone immediately.
"I'd prefer you tell me now though, my mind wouldn't be at rest if you don't…" she starts again and by now, i'm at my wits end.
"Who do you think you are to question my words?" I snap at her and she cowers immediately.
"I-I'm sorry," she says and turns towards the door immediately.
I signal to Greg to make sure she gets to her place safely and he immediately turns to follow her.
Later at night, I hear a rasp at my door. It's Greg, standing at the door with his hair dripping wet though the rest of him is dry.
"What happened? You look a mess," I tell him as I step aside to let him in.
"I look a mess because I have been on quite an adventure today."
I turn back in to settle at my desk, my computer's brightness making me squint my eyes.
"So what is it that you've been up to?"
"Before I get started on that, why the outburst downstairs earlier in the day? I mean, wasn't the plan originally to make her your wife?" He asks and I can feel my irritation coming back.
"Contract wife, Greg…never forget that."
"Contract wife or not, she has to agree to marry you first."
"Uh…and that's a problem, how?" I ask him, confused as to what or who he thinks I am.
"Can't you see? She's not like the rest! She's not desperate to get married to you," Gregs says, exasperated.
"Is there something you saw or heard that I'm unaware of? Catch me up to speed, will you?" I ask him, as his words are laughable to me. Every lady in the city of Aurelia would give anything to be my wife, so how is she the only exception?
"Well, I found out she's not a nobody…at least not since the beginning. She was born into wealth until tragedy struck."
"Tragedy?" I stand up from my desk and move towards him, more interested in what Greg has to say.
"Yes, tragedy struck in the form of your father."
I can't believe my ears, Greg looks so serious and I begin to feel that something might be seriously wrong somewhere.
"My father? Greg, what about my father?"
"Remember her last name?"
Remember? I don't even know her last name!
"What's her last name?" I ask him and Greg, everly so dramatic, places a hand on his hip and paces up and down the room, making a huge show of it.
"Will you speak?" I roar and the door opens immediately he opens his mouth to speak.
There is only one person who dares to open the door without knocking and the person is my mother.
She stands awkwardly at the door, her eyes running between Greg and I.
"Is everything okay here?"
"Yes,"…"no," I and Greg speak at the same time and the room is even more tense than it was.
"I mean…yes," Greg says in a desperate attempt to save the situation.
"Just go ahead and say it," I say, not wanting to drag the reveal any further.
"Her last name is…"
"Who are we talking about here?" My mother cuts him off and I work my jaw in frustration.
Greg looks at me as if to take permission to speak.
"No one, mum. Why are you in here by the way?"
I regret those words as soon as they come out of my mouth as I watch her face fall.
"I just came to apologize about what occurred earlier.
I shouldn't have agreed to the plan but it was either your father or you and it wasn't something that could put you in harm's way, so I thought why not?"
It makes sense why she would do that especially since I know how stubborn my father could get when it comes to having his way.
Whether you align with his plan or you don't, he still goes ahead with whatever it is.
While it has its perks like getting him to the top of the fhain in the corporate world, it could be pretty problematic when it comes to his friends and family.
"It's fine, mother…i'm past that now. I have other things to worry about."
Immediately, she looks worried and moves right next to me, "you can tell me about it."
Sighing, I signal to Greg to go ahead with what he was about to say before he got interrupted.
"As I was saying, Ava's last name is Candley."
"Candley?" It's my mother, her eyes widening in surprise.
"You know her?" Greg and I ask in unison, Greg looking lesss surprised than I am at her reaction.
"Not her…but I know the name Candley." She says, standing up from her the ottoman she had previously occupied and pacing around the room.
"I hope it's not the same one," she muses absentmindedly and I look back at Greg, still confused as to what's going on.
"There's only one Candley in the whole of Aurelia," Greg chips in and I decide that i've had enough.
"Can someone please catch me up to speed on what's going on?"
Noone says anything for a few seconds and when my mother finally speaks, it does little to abate my troubled heart.
"If she's a Candley, then she cannot be your wife."
"Why can't she be my wife? You were particularly excited about us getting married earlier, so what changed?"
"Some things are better left unsaid, Eric. I'm telling you to drop it, it's not a chapter worth opening. Besides, you could easily get any other girl of your choice that are far more beautiful than she is."
"What if I tell you that I want no other woman asides her? I want to get married to Ava, mother so I think it's best you spill whatever it is you know now."
The tension in the room is palpable as she stares me down and I maintain eye contact, not wavering in my stance neither am I taking back my words.
"I hate that you take after your father so much," she says after some time, breaking the tense silence.
From the corner of my eye, I see Greg trying to make an escape silently and I call out his name.
"Greg!" He freezes on the spot and I turn my attention fully to him.
"What exactly did my father do to the Candley's?"
Greg opens his mouth and closes it multiple times like someone who is unsure of what to say, his eyes pleading as he throws glances in my mother's direction.
"Talk…now!" I bellow and he cowers, finally opening his mouth to speak.
"He ended them."